The Second Shot
by Pandonia Jeanette
Summary: Bellweather had a spare bullet during the confrontation at the Natural History Museum. And it's not Nick who takes the hit.


Wow, I haven't written fan-fiction in forever. It's great to get back into it again! This is a request I got for a story where Judy went savage in the museum, so here's my take on it.

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**The Second Shot **

A requested _Zootopia_ fan-fiction

"Blehhh."

Nick had to admit that Judy's impression of dying was pretty funny. He carefully pulled his fangs away from her neck before he could laugh and risk actually hurting her.

Judy's arms mimicked spewing fluids from her chest. "Blood, blood, blood! And..." She flopped onto the floor. "...death."

"Alright, you know, you're milking it," he told her. Nick got himself back on his two hind paws. "Besides, I think we got it." He looked up at Bellweather, watching them from the edge of the exhibit like an all-seeing puppet-master. "We got it up there, thank you. You laid it all out beautifully."

"What?" Bellweather squeaked, turning over the gun in her hand.

"Are you looking for the serum?" Nick brought out a spherical blue bullet from his pocket. "It's right here."

"What have you got in the weapon there?" continued Judy. "Those are blueberries. From my family's farm."

Bellweather opened the cartridge, eyes darkening.

"They're delicious. You should try some." Nick added. Something about this didn't feel right. Bellweather's demeanor was beginning to shift, from a frightened sheep to something willing to hunt. She placed another bullet inside the weapon, its coating artificial. Nick paled. She had a spare.

The gun cocked for another shot. "Don't think you're out of this yet, Judy."

Bellweather aimed the shot at Nick's neck. When the bullet launched itself from the barrel, every sensation became drowned itself in tar, the world moving at a fraction of the speed it had been before. Nick was unable to move.

_The plan failed._ That was the only thought that echoed through his mind. A sinking feeling of failure.

Something crashed into him. The walls fell away and Nick found himself looking at the ceiling. A shriek yanked him back into reality.

"Judy!" Nick rushed over to her. Her paws were over her throat. A dark blue stain clung onto her fur. Her eyes were shut into small slits, a wince escaping her. It was as if his spirit had been turned to ice. His paws weren't moving the way he wanted to them to, the words weren't coming out of his mouth the way he needed them to. He couldn't do anything.

Bellweather yelled out in frustration. She began searching for something on her, and when she couldn't find it, she started barking orders at the closest ram. Nick couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Nick..." Judy croaked out. Her pupils began to be consumed by bloodlust.

"You're gonna be okay," he managed to say. Judy writhed at his feet, her paws still trying to get the serum off her skin, even if by now, both of them already knew it to be too late.

She pulled out the carrot pen from her pocket, the only evidence they have left against Bellweather. She was trembling. "Y-you have to take this. Get it to the ZPD."

"I'm not going to leave you here."

"You have to. Just for now. Please."

Too many things could go wrong, dozens of scenarios crystallizing in Nick's mind. Judy was the key to all of this. The ZPD knew her, knew the kind of cop she was, a cop that pursued truth justice. But he wasn't a cop. He was a fox. "What if they don't listen to me?"

She drove the pen into his hand. "I trust you."

Nick's hold on the carrot tightened. That was when the fire consumed Judy's eyes, the violet of her irises turning violent. She whirled around, jaws snapping for him. Nick jerked back. She was gone.

Something in him still didn't want to give up. "Carrots?" He tried. There was no sense of sanity in Judy's eyes. She pounced forward with speed Nick had never seen from a rabbit before. She caught him off guard, sinking her teeth into his arm.

Nick bit back a yell and willed himself to keep his hand clenched. The carrot pen must not fall from his grip. This was all they had right now. He knew he had to get out the exhibit, find a way to put Bellweather behind bars. But Judy couldn't help him. Her teeth pressed harder into his arm and that made Nick wince.

The doubt crawled into him, infectious. _What if I can't do it?_

_I trust you._

No one had ever said those words to him before. It sparked a flame inside of him, a sense of loyalty and purpose. _I have to do this._

He shook her off, sending the rabbit into the wall. "I'm so sorry," he said. Bite marks punctured through the fur of his arm, but Nick could barely bring himself to focus on it. Judy's own wound on her leg was oozing blood through the handkerchief. If she remained savage, it was going to hurt her more than it would him. He had to do this. For Judy.

Nick scanned the exhibit. He had torn apart one of the fawns while he was pretending to be savage and its stuffed remains were scattered on the floor. There was another deer, larger and its head reached over half the height of the exhibit. He leapt for it. Bounding on the back of the deer, he took another step on the head, the deer falling over as he pushed himself off and landed on the edge of the exhibit.

Bellweather gasped as she noticed. "Get him," she ordered the rams.

He wasn't carrying Judy. He could be the slippery fox he was. As the rams charged at him, Nick swerved, ducked and dodged, years of experience on the streets of Zootopia guiding his reflexes. Two of the rams closed in on him on both sides and Nick dived forward, the rams crashing into each other. He had a clear path to the exit of the museum.

Looking over his shoulder, the rams had regained their footing and resumed their chase.

Nick crashed into a wall. It turned out to be a rhino, dressed in the navy uniform of the ZPD. The pen fell out of his hand. He snatched it before the police could.

"That's him!" yelled Bellweather from behind. "That's the savage fox that attacked Officer Hopps!" The officers of the ZPD approached Nick. He recognized the buffalo, the chief he saw back at the rainforest district.

"I'm not savage," said Nick, holding both of his hands up. "Look, I'm talking. I'm not violent out of my mind."

"But you attacked Hopps," said Bogo.

"I didn't." Nick eyed his bloody arm. "If anything, Officer Hopps attacked me. She's been made to go savage."

The police officers exchanged wary glances. Nick figured that his story sounded impossible.

"He's lying," Bellweather snapped. "He got that wound on his arm because Bellweather was trying to fend him off. You know foxes. They're trying to con you with their words."

Nick hated that sheep, he really did. Zootopia's worst mayor, bar none. Before the cops could do anything, Nick opened his mouth. "If you really want to arrest me and let the mastermind go, then be my guest. But I'm just going to ask you this: how would Officer Hopps solve the case?"

The police looked among themselves. Judy's name had power. She solved a case they couldn't for two weeks in less than two days, and she did it with the help of a species they had long thought was untrustworthy. Chief Bogo straightened. "What do you have for us?"

Bellweather pushed up her glasses, light glaring off them. "You're going to trust a fox?"

Bogo turned to her. "I'm going to trust the evidence. And if the fox has it then I'm going to listen." He brought his focus back to Nick. "What have you got there, fox?"

Nick held up the carrot pen. "Evidence, courtesy of Officer Hopps." Just as he pressed the button, he watched Bellweather. He wanted to see her reaction in this moment.

"_And I'll dart every predator in Zootopia to keep it that way._" Bellweather's own words echoed throughout the museum. Her arms fell.

"What?"

The police all turned on her and the rams.

"Mayor Dawn Bellweather," began Chief Bogo. "You're under arrest."

Victory swelled in Nick's chest. The rhino brought out a pair of handcuffs and Bellweather had no choice but to allow them to clamp around her small wrists. The rams followed suit.

The danger was over.

"Chief," said Nick. "Judy's still down there."

Bogo walked to the edge of the exhibit. He stilled. "Oh, Hopps."

"Can we do something to help her?" Nick peered over the edge, terrified of what he would find. The cloth around Judy's leg had been stained completely red. She snarled and scratched at it.

"Not much until we can find an antidote."_ Antidote?_ Nick's mind began whirling.

"Restrain her," said Bogo. "But be gentle. We can't have her hurting herself. Or us."

"Watch out for her bite," Nick added. A giraffe officer held a roll of bandages and offered to see to the wound on Nick's arm. It was nice to run into police who weren't trying to arrest him.

Nick couldn't see what was happening in the exhibit. He heard a loud thump and a shout of "ow!" from one of the officers. Judy must've kicked him. Fierce bunny.

The police pulled the rabbit out of the exhibit, a lion and a hippo keeping a tight hold on both her arms. She was still thrashing, but now, she couldn't hurt anyone. Nick hated seeing her like this. A polar bear called for an ambulance.

"Take her away," Bogo said to the rhino who held onto Bellweather. She huffed and refused to look Nick.

Something was still tugging at his instincts. "Hold on a minute, Chief," said Nick.

_If I was trying to frame a the entire predator population of Zootopia, what would ruin my plans? _Something clicked. Bellweather had been searching for something as soon as Judy had been shot.

"Search Bellweather," he suggested.

"For what?" asked Bogo.

"She might have an antidote to the Night Howler serum." A savage prey would imply that it's not only predators that can go savage. Her plan to frame predators would fall apart. She must have been trying to cure Judy.

The sheep stiffened at that. Nick grinned. _Hit the nail right on the head. _

One of Bellweather's rams gave up a small vial. An elephant officer took custody of it.

"Get that to the lab for examination. Then we'll give it to Hopps," ordered Bogo. "If it works, we'll know what we need to replicate and we'll distribute it to the other afflicted predators. Until then, we'll get her to the hospital; Get her wounds treated."

Nick nodded. That seemed fair.

"You did good, fox."

"Now you're pushing it, Chief." Though, he wasn't working under Bogo. Yet.

"N-Nick..." He turned.

A hint of clarity broke through Judy's rugged gaze. "Thank you."

He smiled. "Any time, Carrots."


End file.
